Georges michot



G. MICHOT. SCUTCHING 0F FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21| 1918. 1,304,791 Patented May 27, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEoRGEs NIOHOT, OE DROMARA, IRELAND, AssIGNOR 'ro FIBRE oORroRA".1.1oN LIMITED, OE LONDON, ENGLAND.

SCUTCHING OF FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGES MIoHo'r, a citizen of the Swiss' Republic, and residing at Dromara, county Down, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to the Scutching of Flax and other Fibrous Materials, of which the following is av specification.

This invention relates to the scutching of aX and other fibrous materials, and more particularly to machines in which the fibrous materials are inserted between a band and a drum or pulley around which the band is adapted to travel, so that as the drum rotates the material is gripped and carried around a circumferential path while being subjected to the action of one or more conveniently disposed scutching devices as described in my prior application Serial No. 186199, led August 14, 1917.

The present' invention is directed to the production of an improved scutching machine of the above indicated type.

The invention consists in arranging a group of four scutching heads, each with its appropriate scutching wheel, in pairs one above the other, the blades of which can be arranged either inpairs as shown, or singly, to operate in the latter case alternatively on either side of the machine, the bundles for scutching being operated on at all four heads one after the other.

The invention further consists in providing an intermittent feeding device serving all four heads, and in various other features of construction.

In the accompanying drawings and description the invention is more fullyV eX- plained, in which Figure 1 shows a front elevation as arranged with four scutching heads and wheels in tiers with appropriate framework to support the upper tier.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the above taken through the line 2 2; and

Fig. 3 shows an end elevation of the complete machine. V

In carrying this invention into effect in the form shown, four scutching heads a, a', a2, a3 are provided in one machine, each of which is supported in bearings Y), b', b2, b3 secured to vertical steel frames c, c', supported on a suitable foundation and'having cross beams c3 for carrying the upper part of the machine, the lower part being firmly secured to the foundation.

Specification of Letters Patent.

The heads are arranged with the scutching points or Zones at the corners of a rectangle in the order inY which thev scutchingis effected, z'. e., the second head a is ar- Y ranged above the first head a and the third a2 above the fourth a3. v .f v

The flax or the like fibrous material is conveyed through the scutching zones by being gripped between two endless narrow flexible belts al, cl, mounted in a manner similar to those described in my prior applicgtipn Serial No. 186199, filed August 14, 1

The bundles of ber are placed in position at suitable intervals, as described in my Patented May2'7, 1919.

Application led May 21, 1918. Serial No. 235,791. I

prior application. The double belts d, d

carrying the bundles for scutching pass from the first scutching head a nearly vertically upward to the second scutching head a: on the higher level, and means are provided for maintaining theV bundles in their relative positions between the belts during this upward travel which consist of supporting` fingers e carried on an intermittently fed endless belt e or the like, mounted on pulleys f, f supported above one another in the central part of the machine, and which are driven by lbevel gearing g, g2 from the axis of the feed wheel g at the same relative speed as'the feed belts cl, d. The projecting fingers e on the belt e are U-shaped to engage the bundles and are spaced the proper distance apart to engage the bundles as they are fed by the main feed bands, and pass on either side of the feed belts el, d just below each bundle, coming into engagement therewith as the belts turn over the guide pulley 7L just albove the Erst scutching head, and support the bundles in their upward course until near guide pulley h and next around the upper pulley f after which they engage the 'bundles in their downward .travel bctween the guide pulleys h2, h3; the bundles then proceed around the last scutching head a3 and pass to the point where they become released and then removed.

The operation of the machine isas follows The flax straw is placed between the bands CZ, CZ at c projecting about siX inches on the opposite side, for all lengths of straw, for example should the straw be three f eet in length the overhanging portion on the scutching side, this is invariably the root end of the straw first to be operated upon and would be two feet four inches long, plus two inches between the bands making with the short portion of straw on opposite side three feet in all. The bundles then proceed and come into contact with the blades of the first scutching wheel a where they are roughed between the blade and vertical horn plate Z, the bundles are next 'conveyed between the vertical bands d, cl

assisted by the U-shaped projections on the supplementary band e to the second scutching headv a, the bundles of straw are then subjected tothe lateral' changer, whereby its position in regard to the feed bands is altered so that the part of the material gripped between the feed bands during its passage through the zone of the first and second scutchers will be operated upon by the next scutchers in the series, after which it reaches the delivery point from whence it is y removed by hand.

The iiax or other fiber being treated is always shorter on one side, except with short lengths which are placed centrally, but this is not of frequent occurrence; two feet is about the shortest straw o-n the average.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is zf l. A machine for scutching flax straw and other fibrous material comprising in a single machinetwo pairs of scutching wheels arranged in a vertical direction above each other, each wheel beingl provided with a series of blades which are caused to operate ing endless exible bands, between which the fiber is gripped and carried by said bands from the point of insertion to the point of delivery; av centrally'disposed intermittently opera-ted feed wheel in the lower central part of framework around which thefeed band is frictionally gripped; a centrally disposed pair of grooved wheels around thel surfaces of which is mounted; an endless flexible band with Ulsha-ped projections at'- tachedthereto in the upper portion of'machine, independently operatedy at the-same linear speed as the feed bands, substantially as described. l

2. In a machine for scu-tcliing iiax, straw and other vfibrous material as claimed in claim l', the combination of'a lateral changing device placedi mid-way in the process to cause a more eectual scutcliing effect to be obtained in the manner described;

In testimony whereofV I' have signed my name to this specification;

Gf. MioHofr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofy Patents,

Washington, I). C.

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